Escaping the Past
by confusedbirdstuckintheclouds
Summary: Hermione has had a hard life. Draco has a horrible marriage. Can they help each other to be happy? Lemons & Abuse DM/HG First Fanfic. Review please! I wanna know how i'm doing and if I should make more.
1. Chapter 1: Lonely

Astoria was yelling again. About what Draco had no idea, but he wasn't about to hear it again. All this had started because he was late a few minutes. Why was she so uptight about every little thing?!

"Astoria enough. I am tired. I just got home from work. The Minister held me over a few minutes to discuss the plans for the Quidditch world cup. We have to have airtight security so that no muggles wander in, and no overexcited wizards break the rules. What with the fiasco it was when we were in school, they always keep the security tight now, and with my being head of Magical Law Enforcement, it is only right that I am completely on top of everything." Draco interrupted. Astoria just stared at him.

"You are an insufferable git. You weren't even listening to me! Your wife should be the most important person to you. I will be upstairs. Don't bother coming to bed tonight." And with that, she stomped off upstairs. Draco sighed. He was getting bored of this. He disapparated so he could go clear his mind.

This was his favorite place in the world. He had come here many a time as a refuge from his father during the war. It was an elegant flat in London, but it was his place of peace in a storm. No one knew it existed but him. The flat was a lavish three bedroom beauty, full of emerald green with silver accents to everything. It had plush carpets and silk curtains. Antique styled modern furniture, and traditional magical torches lighting each room. The rooms were large and spacious, with high ceilings and lots of windows enchanted to show you whatever you wanted to see. He sighed as he took of his shoes and summoned a cup of tea, sinking into his comfortable couch. He picked up a copy of the muggle magazine he so enjoyed reading. His friends never understood why he would read a magazine with pictures that didn't move, but he liked the simplicity and was secretly enchanted by the muggle contraptions he often saw. As he was flipping through the pages, he noticed an advert for an "escort service**". ****_Lonely? Sex life not great? Call 1-800-get-a-kitty to find the partner that is just right for fulfilling your needs_**_._ Draco thought about it… But no he mustn't! But then again… As he thought about it the idea began to grow on him. _It would only be just this once… Astoria would never even know… And if she found out, who cares! I hate the bitch anyway… Only married her to make mother happy, and mother isn't even alive any more… She has probably cheated on me plenty of times… _At this Draco decided, and he pulled out his latest purchase, the "telly phone" as he had heard the muggles call it. He dialed the number like the guy in the store had shown him and waited through the annoying sound until a lady with a somewhat husky voice answered the phone.

"Hello. Kitty's Escorts, may I help you?" the voice said.

"Yes I would like to request a lady for the night." Draco was unsure what exactly to ask.

"Ok well we have many different packages. Exactly what would you like?"

"Umm…" Draco didn't know how to respond. He wasn't familiar with this process at all.

"In a lady." The voice sounded exasperated. "Tall, short, skinny, fat, small breasts, large breasts, what do you want?"

"Oh!" Draco was beginning to catch on a bit more. "Maybe someone short… With long brown hair and interesting eyes… also, mid-range proportions. Also, a C-cup, a small waist, and a pretty face."

"Alright I know just the one for you. Give us twenty minutes to get her there."

Draco said goodbye and hung up. He then turned on his tv, something he got a year ago, and flicked through the channels, listening intently for the doorbell. _She'll be here any minute_, he thought to himself, getting more nervous by the minute. He decided to change his shirt, but as he was walking to his room he heard the loud DING DONG of the doorbell. He almost jumped on his way to look out the little hole in the door.


	2. Chapter 2: Hurt

"Stupid bitch!" She winced as his fist connected with her stomach. "It should have been done hours ago! I work all day! You had plenty of time!" He punched her once more and she fell. He spat on her as she crumbled to the ground, waiting for his assault to end. "Now go fix it. If you aren't done in a half hour it'll be worse."

Hermione had arrived just before he had, and didn't have a chance to finish dinner. She walked into the kitchen to prepare dinner, taking everything out, and using a wandless spell to hurry along the cooking process. After she finished she made his plate, grabbed a beer and carried it into the living room. She silently sat it down on the table next to him and went to leave the room. Before she could escape he grabbed her arm and spun her around so she was on his lap. He then proceeded to kiss her. "I'm sorry I had to hit you again, but you have to learn" he said in a quiet voice. The sound of his voice reminded her of the old him, but she knew better.

They met during her second semester at Brown University. She started there after her break up with Ron. They noticed that after the war and after Harry and Ginny were married, they really didn't have much in common. He basked in the glory of being one of the Golden Trio, whereas she wanted nothing more than to settle down and get a nice job and live a quiet life. So they went their separate ways and she went off to a university to study literature. She was only there for a few months before she met him. He was a senior named Micheal, majoring in English. He wanted to be an English professor. The first time he asked out she said no, because she was focused on her studies. This is how she responded to his next five invites to dinner. Eventually she accepted because she figured maybe it would be fun. After they went on a few dates they became a serious couple. She was happy, happier than she'd been in years, since her parents died, and he was always sweet and respectful to her. They moved in together after six months, and they were happier than ever. She got the job she wanted, and he did too. Two years later they had a beautiful baby girl, Jean Marie, after their mothers, and he asked her to stay home so that she could take care of the baby. This was all fine, until one day, much like today, he came home to find her asleep and no food on the table and the house a mess. That was the first time he ever hit her. He left after that for a little while, then came back with chocolate and flowers and apologies about how stressed he was and how he didn't mean it. She accepted his apologies and gave him another chance. A few months went by before it happened again, this time because she didn't understand something he was explaining. Again he apologized, but it began to happen more and more often. One day she got fed up and took her daughter and left. She was on her way to find the borough, in her car because her daughter was too young to apparate, and she stopped at a gas station for directions and there he stood. She didn't know that he had a tracking device on her car. He threatened to kill her and her baby if she ever tried to leave him again. So she didn't. But she needed money, so she found this escort company that would pick her up from her house, and she found a neighbor, a squib that could feel her magic presence and had taken a liking to her, to babysit Jean. She would leave at 10 after he did, and come back by five so she could have time to pick up her daughter, shower, and make his dinner.

"Mommy… I'm hungry." Her daughter broke her thoughts and she looked up.

"You heard your daughter. Go make her food." Micheal said in a maliciously sweet tone before pushing her off his lap and onto the floor. She wearily got up, brushed herself off, and picked up her four year old daughter.

"Come on sweetie, let's go get you some dinner." She kissed her daughter's forehead as she carried her into the kitchen. _This beautiful little girl is the only reason I am alive right now_, she thought as she sat her tiny green eyed daughter into her seat at the table and kissed the top of her long, curly brown hair. _So like me_, she marveled, _and I hope nothing like her father_, _except with those eyes. Her beautiful emerald eyes._

"Mommy why is daddy always so mean to you? I don't like him. He scares me." She was startled by her daughter's question. She didn't know how to respond.

"Well baby girl, mommy has no idea, but you shouldn't ask such questions. Daddy might get upset, ok?"

"But mommy… Are you afraid of daddy too?" Jean asked wide eyed, staring at her mother.

"Honestly yes baby. I am." _She will be excellent at liglimens one day_, Hermione thought. Her daughter was bright,just as she had been all those years ago. She would show magic early and definitely go to Hogwarts, _If it's the last thing I do_.


	3. Chapter 3: Meetings

Hermione woke up at 6am the next morning, just like she always did, made Micheal's breakfast and waited for him to leave. Then she took Jean to Mrs. Peirce and then got ready for work. They came to pick her up at 9, and then she went into the back of the building to get ready for the day. Some of the other girls were back there, and as she began to change clothes, one of the girls, her friend Angelina, noticed the bruise on her stomach.

"Minny again? How many times is he gonna do this to you babe? You can't let this keep happening."

"Well Angie it isn't like I'm not working on getting out. What do you think I'm doing here? "

Angelina looked at her with a look of concern. "Ok hun. Well here let me at least help you cover that up. Don't need your customers seeing it."

"Thanks Angie. You know, I love you." Hermione said, smiling. Angie smiled back.

"It's not a problem." They hugged, and Hermione went to sit at her desk. She was reading, a luxury only afforded her when she was at work, when someone poked her. She looked up to see Angelina standing over her with a slip of paper.

"Juliette found a job for you. Some guy, obviously new to this whole thing, gave her a description and you match. She said he sounded a posh, so make sure you do well. Might get a nice tip." Angie winked at her, and Hermione rolled her eyes jokingly. She took the paper and looked at it. It was a rich apartment complex in the center of London. She sighed. _Seems my day has begun_. She got into one of the company cars and drove over to the appointed address.

As she was driving she found herself wondering about who she was getting this time. She always did this, just to keep her mind off of what she was actually doing. She thought about what he might look like. The rich ones ranged from ugly to average. She had only ever gotten one attractive customer, but he was into some very odd things.

She found the street she was looking for and turned down it, parking and going up to the building. A doorman was there, and he opened the door for her with a smile as she ogled the beauty of the lobby. It had white furniture, marble floors, and intricate moldings on the walls, all of this having gold accents.

"Hello there beautiful. Who might you be visiting today?" He was obviously sizing her up. Thankfully she had dressed as though she belonged there.

"I am going to visit a friend in…" She looked at the paper for the apartment number. "apartment 37a?"

"Ok madam. Well there are only four apartments up there. Go up to the top floor and look for A. 37 is the floor number by the way. The elevator is over there."

She looked over in the direction he pointed and noticed the silver doors. She walked over to them and pressed the little triangle pointed upwards. As she waited she continued to look around in awe of the beauty. She could see herself moving into a place like this someday. After she got away from this hell of a life. She sighed, got into the elevator, and pressed the button for the 37th floor. As the elevator went up she checked her hair, to make sure it was still sleek and shiny and wavy. It had taken her a while to learn the spells to keep it that way. She checked her makeup and straightened her clothes, making sure her shirt was in the correct place for revealing the most cleavage.

She walked out of the elevator as soon as the doors opened with a DING and went up to the first door she saw, checking that it said 37A. She rang the doorbell and waited. The man who answered was an extremely handsome blond with silver eyes. He was tall and slender, but had a nice build, as if he regularly worked out. And he was vaguely familiar.

"Umm… Are you the escort I called for?" His words broke her staring.

"Yes. My name is Minny. Are you going to invite me in?" She let out her confidence, becoming demanding. It was funny, she thought, how she became a completely different person when she was away from Micheal. She banished the thoughts of him from her mind as he stood aside to invite her in.

She was amazed at the room she saw. It was amazingly elegant, and decked out in green and silver. He motioned for her to sit on the couch, and then went to a room in the back. She was amazed at the room. And the windows… Everything here seemed familiar somehow but… She decided she was just being paranoid. After a few minutes she remembered to do the usual spells that she does. One to keep people away from the apartment, and a few to protect herself from diseases and pregnancy. Just as she was finishing the last of them, he walked into the hall with the most curious look on his face.


	4. Chapter 4: Realizations

Draco was amazed when he answered the door. Before him stood the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. The first thing he noticed was her long wavy brown hair. She was short, but he liked that in a woman. She was dressed in a very tight fitting shirt that gave him a nice view of her amazing cleavage, and a pencil skirt. Her mouth was full and he couldn't help but want to kiss her. He noticed that she had pretty brown eyes, with flecks of gold in them. He had only ever met one person with eyes like that, and she had to be very far away at this point. He shook her from his mind, because that would be impossible.

He noticed she was staring at him as he was her, and a conceited smirk found its way to his mouth. Then she was looking into his eyes and he found himself becoming nervous again. Every part of his body was screaming at him to say something.

"Umm… Are you the escort I called for?" _Oh god she must think I am a right idiot. Why did I say that? _

Then he heard her voice, smooth and sweet like honey. "Yes. My name is Minny. Are you going to invite me in?" She looked at him in what he thought might be interest as he moved to the side and watched her expression change to awe as she took in the room. He had set the windows to the normal view of his window and changed the torches so that they looked like normal gas lights. He liked the look of fire, and admired her as the light flickered off of her hair and eyes.

He showed her to the couch, and then went into the bathroom to freshen up and change his shirt. He took a few minutes to think, looking in the mirror and feeling more nervous than he had in his entire life. He wondered what she must think of him, and then wondered why it mattered to him so much.

_OK, He thought to himself. _Just calm down, and go out there. _She isn't going to bite. Stop being such a child!_

He walked out of the bathroom and heard what sounded like muttering. Perplexed, he peeked around the corner into the living room, seeing what couldn't be mistaken for anything except for magic. It wasn't as focused, which meant she wasn't using a wand. But she was using MAGIC!

He slowly walked out of the hallway, ready to question her. She looked up at him, first startled, then embarrassed, then she looked like she was afraid.

"Were you just… was that… magic? How? What?" He didn't seem to be able to form a complete sentence because of how shocked he was. He had never come across another wizard in this area, least of all one with a job as an escort. He pulled out his wand, and astonished himself that that wasn't his first reaction to seeing her.

"I don't have my wand." She said, hands up. Then she looked at him as though a light had gone off in her brain. "Draco Malfoy?" As the realization crept across her face she looked as though he had smacked her, and she immediately narrowed her eyes. He looked closer at her narrowed eyes and her face and hair and…

"GRANGER? HERMIONE GRANGER?" He was so astounded that he started yelling. She looked at him in defiance, but he could tell she was a bit afraid.

"Yes Malfoy. It's me, the mudblood you harassed back in school."

"But how is it you? What is going on? I am so confused… How did you get _here,_ of all places?" He lowered his wand and sat down on the arm of his couch, and she seemed to notice she was standing and sat on the opposite end of the couch.

"I drove. My boss gave me an assignment and I drove to it." She said with as much venom as she could manage. She obviously didn't trust him. And he knew why. How could he ever forget?


	5. Chapter 5: Bitter Words

**Author's Note: I am soo sorry! I have had so much stuff going on with me lately that I haven't been able to update and I lost half my chapters when my computer died and ugh. So many difficult things are going on, but I'm trying! Here, have two chapters. They are kind of short, but with me having to redo them I have to remember all of my ideas. :P I will TRY to be more regular with this. xP **

She hadn't recognized him at first, but when he pulled out his wand, something clicked into place and suddenly everything became clear.

"Draco Malfoy?" She heard herself ask, hoping to everything she knew and loved that she was wrong. Suddenly He was yelling.

"GRANGER? HERMIONE GRANGER?" It startled her a bit, but she maintained her look of solid defiance.

"Yes Malfoy. It's me, the 'mudblood' you harassed back in school."

"But how is it you?" He stammered, "What is going on? I am so confused... How did you get here of all places?"

She stared at him angrily from as far away as she could manage, and watched as he lowered his wand and sat on the arm of his couch. She couldn't help but to admire the way he moved, gracefully, but with a certain strength. She shook herself out of it and spat back an answer.

"I drove. My boss gave me an assignment and I drove to it," She shot back. "Why would you even call a muggle escort service? And what's with all of these muggle things? Has the Malfoy prince grown soft?" She was trying to get to him, jabbing at his pride and using her apparent venom to cover up the natural curiosity that always tended to get the better of her.

"I..." He paused to think. "I don't think that's any of your business! What are you, the all-knowing Hermione Granger, doing working at a place like that?"

His question momentarily threw her off as she remembered for just a second and all at once why she was there.

"It's business. And if you can't tell me why you called, then I see no reason as to why I should tell you anything about my personal life." She tried to sound as angry as she had before, but something wasn't there anymore. Now that she remembered the reason behind it all, she felt a little defeated. She pushed away her feelings so that she could think.

If she left, she would be set back on an entire day's worth of work, and she really did need the money. But it was DRACO MALFOY! Of all the wizards in the world, she had to have gotten the most pig-headed one of all, the one who had tortured her for eight years of her life. She thought about her daughter again, and knew what she had to do. She had to deal with it. She sighed and looked at this very handsome version of her childhood enemy.

"Ok. So we both obviously need something out of this, and I can't afford to leave, so why don't we just try to work something out?" She could taste the words as they came out, and they were the most bitter thing she had ever tasted.


	6. Chapter 6: Talking

Draco watched as Hermione got lost in her thoughts. _I guess some things never change_ he thought to himself. He found himself absentmindedly appreciating the things that had changed since they were 18. Time had been very generous to her. She now had very supple, luscious curves about her, and her unruly hair had been properly tamed.

She had matured quite a bit, and even though she had avoided his question, he still found himself pondering how she had come to be in this situation. She was beautiful and obviously still as brilliant as ever. He just didn't understand. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when she spoke.

"Ok. So we both obviously need something out of this, and I can't afford to leave, so why don't we just try to work something out?"

He was floored by her sudden 180. He had been expecting for her to just get up walk out of his apartment.

"Um... Whatever you think is best, I guess. I just have one question... why are you staying?"

She sighed and said, "All you need to know is that I need the money."

"But... You are brilliant! One of the Golden Trio! Why can't you find a job doing-"

"Enough. I will not tell you about my personal life. It is none of your business." She curtly interrupted.

"Ok... well what now?" He honestly had no idea what to do next, which made him more nervous than he should have been.

"That's up to you" she answered, "You were the one who called for me. What were you looking for?"

"I honestly don't know" he answered, running a hand through his hair. " I was pretty upset with Astoria when I decided to call, but I wasn't expecting for it to be you who showed up. Now I just don't know."

"Astoria is... your wife?"

"Yes. My parents pushed for us to get married once we got done with school, so I just went along with it. I never really loved her... Sometimes I don't even think I like her" he sighed. "Sorry for unloading all of this on you. You probably don't want to hear about my problems."

"You know, escorts aren't just for sex. I have had quite a few calls from people who were only looking for company. I'm a good listener." She seemed to be softening up some.

_Maybe opening up to her is what I need_, He thought. _It's been a while since I've had someone to talk to_.

"Well thank you. I think I do need someone to talk to sometimes." He smiled at her and she smiled back, to his surprise. He didn't know what to make of this situation, but something just felt... right. As if it was supposed to happen.


End file.
